Oral Habit

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Oral Habit deal in what they call "the ear-rattling psychic dream of choked-up acid punks", 
a sound that feels overpowering, explosive and intense: you could say it's more closely 
aligned to the disoriented racket of mid-60s freakbeat than the pie-eyed beatitudes of the 
Summer of Love; equally you could suggest it's a very contemporary form of psychedelia, 
rebooted for the troubled, disturbing climate of 2026.

Initially a home recording project of frontman Charlie Hales now expanded into a trio with 
the addition of his brother Felix on drums, and his partner Tippi Lewis on bass, Oral Habit's 
recent EP Garage Frock! offers four short, sharp bursts that expand on the sound of its 
predecessor, Cardiovascular Spectacular, throwing up an impressively bloody and chaotic 
melange of guitar fuzz, echo-drenched vocals, feedback-drenched solos and primitive riffs 
that feels as if it was recorded with everything turned up to full volume, including the 
mellotron that decorates I'm Free. Even the one track that initially presents as a ballad, The 
Coast, eventually gives way to a crushing, sludgy grind. As statements of intent go, it's 
impressively full-on, as is Charlie's explanation of the band's sonic philosophy: "if a 
button's there, it's there to be pushed." - Alexis Petridis